Bloomington Innovation Conference expands as it connects industry, research

For the third year in a row, the Bloomington Innovation Conference connected Indiana University Bloomington researchers and industry officials from the region. The conference, organized by the Johnson Center for Innovation and Translational Research, included presentations from external speakers and IU Bloomington faculty who received JCITR Translational Research Pilot Grant Awards.

Keith R. Davis, director of the Johnson Center, said the conference has continued to grow since its 2015 inception.

“We are pleased that the attendance doubled at the 2017 conference compared to our initial conference in 2015,” he said. “Since the 2016 conference, the number of poster presentations doubled and included researchers from a variety of disciplines that represent the diversity of research being conducted at IU Bloomington. We also added two demonstration stations and information tables from three other organizations: University Industry Demonstration Partnership (UIDP), IU Research and Technology Corporation (IURTC), Center for Survey Research, and Places and Spaces: Mapping Science Exhibit from Scimaps.org. The growth has been tremendous.”

The conference included informational presentations on topics like interacting with angel investors, developing proposals for Small Business Innovation Research grants, and launching startup companies; a poster session that provided networking opportunities for faculty, post-doctorates and students from IU Bloomington; and research presentations from both IU Bloomington faculty and industry researchers.

Nick Nikolaides, Executive Director, University of Cincinnati Skin Science & Technology Collaborative, and entrepreneur in residence, University of Cincinnati

Nick Nikolaides — executive director, University of Cincinnati Skin Science & Technology Collaborative, and entrepreneur in residence, University of Cincinnati — was keynote speaker at the conference.

“The Bloomington Innovation Conference is an outstanding example of how institutes of higher education can more genuinely connect with industry. As they learn even more about one another, stronger bonds are made that can benefit collaborations for researchers and students, leading to co-creation of basic and applied science opportunities,” he said. “Recognizing these connections and strengthening them, via co-creation, will have short-term and long-term impact on Indiana University Bloomington researchers as more of their innovations are developed for the market.”

Speakers at this year’s conference were:

Davis

Nikolaides

Fred Cate, IU vice president for research

Cheng Kao, professor, molecular and cellular biochemistry

Hannah Block, assistant professor, kinesiology

David Landy, assistant professor, psychological and brain sciences

Erik Weitnauer, research associate, psychological and brain sciences

Richard Hardy, professor, biology

Matt Anderson, principal software research engineer, Center for Research in Extreme Scale Technologies